PM Edition: CMS net-zero pressure; many utilities off track to meet Paris goal

➤ Target Zero: CMS striving to keep lights on amid storms, net-zero pressure

CMS Energy Corp. and its principal subsidiary Consumers Energy Co. have committed to achieving net-zero methane emissions by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions by 2040, among the most aggressive targets in the U.S. multi-utilities sector. The Jackson, Mich.-headquartered utility holding company has already laid out plans to speed up its exit from coal by 15 years to 2025 and add about 8,000 MW of solar generation under its June 2021 integrated resource plan.

➤ Many leading utilities off track to meet Paris 1.5-degree goal, report finds

A report from a sustainability benchmarking group found that the vast majority of the world's 50 leading utilities — including 10 U.S. power companies — are still exceeding their carbon budgets and falling behind the Paris Agreement on climate change's climate goals. The Nov. 24 assessment by the World Benchmarking Alliance found that just three of 50 "keystone" power companies considered to be leaders in low-carbon energy have set emission reduction targets aligned with the most ambitious goal under the 2015 Paris Agreement. The pact calls to limit global average surface temperature increases to 1.5 degrees C above pre-industrial levels.

➤ Ramped-up renewables, faster coal exit among pledges by new German government

Europe's largest economy is being moved onto a faster decarbonization track as Germany's new coalition government outlined its plans to achieve 80% renewable electricity by 2030 and speed up the country's exit from coal. Deployment of wind, solar and hydrogen production will accelerate, while coal-fired power generation will be phased out "ideally" by the end of the decade, according to policy proposals unveiled Nov. 24 by the coalition partners. Germany's existing targets foresee a 65% share for renewables by 2030 and a coal exit by 2038.

OTHER NEWS

* The U.S. Energy Department will not renew the National Coal Council's charter, choosing instead to write a new one and revise its focus, the federal advisory council told S&P Global Market Intelligence on Nov. 23. Launched in 1984, the National Coal Council provides recommendations to the Energy Secretary on policies related to coal technology, marketing and use while also generating research reports on coal topics, including increasing the export of U.S. coal and promoting carbon capture and storage technology.

* Washington state regulators upheld authorizations for Puget Sound Energy Inc. to build a liquefied natural gas facility at the Port of Tacoma but added conditions intended to address concerns about the project's environmental impact. The Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board in separate Nov. 19 orders ruled that Puget Sound Clean Air Agency issued the construction permit and an accompanying supplemental environmental impact statement, which allows greenhouse gas and other emissions, for the Tacoma LNG project in compliance with the State Environmental Policy Act.

* Italian utility Enel SpA will spend €170 billion over the course of this decade to accelerate its decarbonization and achieve net-zero emissions by 2040 — 10 years sooner than previously planned. Close to 90% of Enel's capital expenditure until 2030 will go into its renewables and networks businesses, which will receive roughly equal shares of the pot. The €170 billion plan could be topped up with €40 billion in financing that the company wants to source from third parties.

* Southern Power Co.'s 118-MW Glass Sands Wind Facility in Murray County, Okla., is now operational, the Southern Co. subsidiary announced Nov. 24. The project's generated electricity and associated renewable energy credits will be sold under a power purchase agreement with Amazon.com Inc., according to a news release.

CHART WATCH

Overall, institutional investors were net buyers of pure-play shale drillers as share prices climbed higher. Hefty purchases of stakes in Appalachian shale gas producers EQT Corp. and Southwestern Energy Co. led the action, according to third-quarter 13-F filings with the SEC that were analyzed by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

RESEARCH

* Lithium and Cobalt CBS November 2021 — Prices continue upward momentum

* Madison Gas and Electric rate settlement gets Wis. utility commission approval

QUOTED

"If FERC asserts jurisdiction over environmental attributes, that increases regulatory risk dramatically because one swing vote at FERC can change the rules, whereas under the state jurisdictional approach, each of the [roughly] 30 states with environmental attribute requirements operate independently so risk is diversified." – report by Grid Strategies LLC on behalf of the American Council on Renewable Energy, which recommends that the U.S. create an entity in charge of procuring necessary electricity resources.

The PM Edition of The Daily Dose will not be published Nov. 25-26. The PM Edition will resume publication Nov. 29. The AM Edition of The Daily Dose will not be published Nov. 25. The AM Edition will resume publication Nov. 26.

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